


A Petunia By Any Other Name

by Honeycomb787



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Nice Dursley Family (Harry Potter), Nice Petunia Evans Dursley, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:54:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29550303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Honeycomb787/pseuds/Honeycomb787
Summary: In any other circumstance, when Lily's Hogwarts letter came Petunia Evans would be jealous. Jealous that her sister was special in ways she could not be, jealous that their parents loved and payed more attention to her because she had something that might lift them out of their financial hole in the ground. But instead, she had something only she could do, something that reversed the tables of the normal path of Petunia Dursley nee Evans. Petunia had her art.
Relationships: None
Comments: 4
Kudos: 12





	A Petunia By Any Other Name

**Author's Note:**

> I literally woke up at 5pm after a two hour nap and immediately, (I'm not joking, I sat up, grabbed my phone and opened my note pad) started writing this from start to finish. I think I'll continue this some day btw.

In any other circumstance, when Lily's Hogwarts letter came Petunia Evans would be jealous. Jealous that her sister was special in ways she could not be, jealous that their parents loved and payed more attention to her because she had something that might lift them out of their financial hole in the ground. But instead, she had something only she could do, something that reversed the tables of the normal path of Petunia Dursley nee Evans. Petunia had her art. 

From a young age she was always a gifted artist, of course as gifted as a five year old could be, her parents always looked at each mediocre painting she produced with pride before hanging them on the fridge. It wasn't until she was seven, and a much better artist, that her works truly turned into something special for Petunia. 

She was in art class, and had painted a lovely picture of pinks yellows and purples showcasing an abstract beach at dawn. Her teacher had swooned over it, and asked if she would like to hang it up I'm their local gallery for sale. If it had been any other picture and any other day, Petunia would have said no. She was always very attached to the things she made, but it was not any other day. The night before she had stood behind a wall listening in on her parents try to figure out how to keep them warm and fed. And this wasn't her favorite any way, she prefers the cooler colors of a midnight sky in the snow, over a warm beach at dawn. 

So she said yes, and her teacher had hung it up in their small local gallery for 40 pounds. Petunia thought that was a lot for a painting, but she supposed that anyone who would buy a painting from a gallery had money to spend in the first place. 

She had forgotten about it until a week later her teacher came up to her after class, a beaming smile on her face, and handed her some money. She was confused, and didn't understand what the money was for until her teacher explained that someone bought her painting from the gallery. She was shocked to say the least. Her teacher had told her to give her any painting that she wanted hanged up, and she'd do it. Apparently a lot of people were interested in seeing more from her. Huh. 

When she went home that night she gave her parents what she'd earned and explained the situation, that she wanted to do more. Her parents enthusiastically agreed, and in a month she had sold two more paintings that gave them 100 pounds. 

And on that went, until she was 10 and finally started going to the events herself. She had moved to a different gallery this time, in a richer area. She had put on the nicest clothing she owned and had her mother help do her hair, her parents couldn't come with her because her little sister had a cold, so her teacher came with her instead. 

This time it was a larger painting, one that could easily be a main center piece in a room. And they were selling it for 200 pounds. She hoped with all her heart it would sell, her parents were debating if buying medicine for Lily was too expensive. A very dangerous gamble. 

It was a long mostly boring night, until a well dressed man came up to her. 

"Hello young ma'am, is this your painting?" She nodded her head yes. "Would you mind if a bought it from you? Me and my wife absolutely adore it!" She enthusiastically said _yes_. She was on cloud nine the whole rest of the day, and before she headed home she went to a small store and bought a syrup that helped with colds and fevers. 

Her parents nearly cried as she brought home the money and the medicine, giving her a large long hug that she melted into. Her sister got better quickly with the help of the medicine, and Petunia Evans felt unstoppable. 

With her making and selling paintings every month, things went well for the Evans family. They never had enough to move up in the world, but they had enough to support a household of four, and that was more than they thought possible. Petunia was very close to her sister, who looked up with stars in her eyes and told Petunia that she wouldn't have any other sister in the world, that she thought her gift with art to be amazing. It meant everything to hear her younger sister say that, she knew that Lily would get jealous from time to time, that she never got the attention from Mom and Dad that she deserved. So she spent as much time as possible with her. Even when it meant she had to hang out with a strange boy named Severus sometimes. 

__________________________

"You're a witch, Lily." She stared in wonder at this person who had just turned an old cup of theirs into a rabbit.

"Am I a witch too?" The stranger, McGonagall she thought, frowned a bit at her 

"I'm sorry, but no, only your sister." She nodded her head in acceptance. She was sad she wasn't also a witch, but she was happy that Lily had her own thing now, at least. 

Then Lily was gone 9 months of the year. Only coming home on Christmas and summer break. Petunia worked even harder while her sister was gone, not to outshine and gain back her parents favor, but to start saving for her future. Now that Lily was at a school that had all expenses paid, they didn't need as much financial support as before, allowing her to start accumulating a small fortune hiden under her mattress. Before Lily came home for summer break she had saved up 1000 pounds. 

The day Lily came home was a celebration for Petunia, she had grown very attached to her sister after all, and a tight hug was shared between them before Lily started telling them all the wonders of her new school. Her younger sister spinning stories of witch's, goblins, and spells. She teased her sister when she brought up a boy named James Potter. Her sister flushed red, either with embarrassment or anger Petunia did not know. 

"That Potter! He and his friends are awful! They do nothing but pull pranks and bully people. They bully Sev' just because he's in Slytherin!" Petunia blinked at that, she had no idea that friend of Lily's was a wizard. 

And so the summer break went, filled with laughter and fun. It did disturb Petunia a bit that their parents had so quickly latched onto Lily as they had to her, but she couldn't see it as a bad thing. She had her time in the spotlight, and it wasn't like their parents didn't care for her anymore. It was just different, she supposed. Besides, she felt like she was on a magnificent track in life.


End file.
